Vodacom pays R1.2-million after ‘violating’ client’s privacy: report

Vodacom has reportedly paid more than R1.2-million to forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan after the cellphone giant allegedly handed over confidential call records to the legal team representing a former high-ranking member of the criminal underworld without his permission.

According to a report on the Daily Maverick website on Monday, Vodacom agreed to pay the money in an out-of-court settlement after it allegedly gave O’Sullivan’s personal information to the law firm that represented jailed former underworld boss Radovan Krejcir in 2014.

This prompted O’Sullivan to take the operator to the high court seeking damages.

O’Sullivan told the Daily Maverick in May 2014 that he would not “allow Vodacom to ignore my rights”.

“I’m not just doing this to get back the R2-million I wasted on preventing Krejcir from having access to my cellular records, I am doing this for all South Africans, who regularly have their privacy breached by Vodacom.”

A Vodacom spokesman confirmed to TechCentral that the parties reached an out-of-court settlement. However, he said both parties are “contractually precluded” for commenting.

“What we can put on record without compromising this agreement is that Vodacom denies both that it illegally handed over Mr O’Sullivan’s details and that it breaches its customers’ right to privacy,” the spokesman said. — (c) 2018 NewsCentral Media